Jakob Pöltl achieved the 100th double-double of his career in the National Basketball Association (NBA) on Thursday (local time). The center contributed 15 points and twelve rebounds to the Toronto Raptors’ 110:105 win against the Minnesota Timberwolves. This was the fourth time in a row that the 29-year-old Viennese wrote double digits. There were also two assists in 28:47 minutes of action.
The Viennese is the first player in the NBA since Shaquille O’Neal 30 years ago, who managed 90 or more points, 20 or more offensive and defensive rebounds and a hit rate of more than 70 percent from the field in three games.
Scottie Barnes made his comeback with glasses as protection after a break of several weeks due to injury (broken right orbital bone). The All Star scored 17 points.
After the victory, Pöltl was proud of his team.
Jakob, two very strong performances in a row were rewarded with two wins. There’s not much you can do other than turnovers, right?
We struggled with turnovers and unnecessary fouls, especially in the first half, and gave them too many easy points at the free throw line. We did much better in the second half, moved the ball well on offense, fought courageously and brought the game home. It was a cool performance, I’m proud of the team.
With Scottie Barnes’ comeback, something seems to be possible again, even if four away games in a row are waiting?
In any case, Scottie helps us massively, of course we are happy that he is back in the line-up. The more he plays and gets into his rhythm, the better for us. But the most important thing is that we stay true to our basketball – and we achieved that today. Even though we have an important player back, we went in with the same energy and attitude as in previous games.
In the previous three games you have statistics that NBA legend Shaqille O’Neal last achieved 30 years ago.
These are snapshots. Of course they were good games, I’m proud of my achievements, but I’m not really interested in statistics or who you compare it to from the past. As I said, I am proud of what I have achieved and hope that I can continue to achieve this in the future.
